Cardinal Fortis
Titles: Pilgrim Shepherd, Lord of the Dark Watch Seat of Power: Pax Calixis (Imperial Cruiser) Arch-Diocese: The Periphery and Halo Stars Even after centuries of Imperial exploration and settlement, much of the Calixis Sector remains a wild frontier. The sector is also on the very edge of the Imperium and many of its worlds sit precariously close to the halo rim. These untamed areas however are of great importance to the Ministorum as they represent the ongoing war of faith to reclaim lost worlds and spread the light of the God-Emperor even further. Within the Calixis Sector the stewardship of these regions, primarily consisting of the Periphery and the near Halo Stars, falls to Cardinal Fortis. Among the older cardinals, Fortis has for over a century governed his diocese from a heavily converted Lunar Class cruiser know as the Pax Calixis, hooked up to humming machines and pumping tanks of fluid that keep his ancient frame alive. Attended by an army of missionaries, confessors and lay-priests, Fortis and his ship sail a slow circuit around the rim of the sector, seeding worlds with the faithful and bringing the word of the God-Emperor to the godless. While his position is a vital one to the Ministorum and his good work has brought millions of new followers to the Imperial Creed, Fortis has little to do with the politics of the Sector Synod, only making contact infrequently to petition for more resources for his crusade. In recent times, however, the Imperial expansion into the Koronus Expanse and the influx of pilgrims toward that region has caused some friction between Fortis and Kregory. Fortis maintains that as a new untapped area of faith, and a region of the Halo Stars, all matters concerning the Expanse should fall into his diocese. However the gateway to the Expanse, Port Wander, can be found on the edge of the Drusus Marches, Kregory’s diocese, and the Cardinal of the Marches is loath to give up the stranglehold he has on the wealth the port is producing for the church and the power it affords his sub-sector. In a move to settle the matter Fortis has been seeking aid from Ignato to go to Port Wander himself and build a mighty shrine to the God-Emperor for the pilgrims and missionaries passing into the Expanse. He then intends to have himself transplanted from the Pax Calixis into the shrine, effectively taking up permanent residence in Port Wander and officially claiming it as part of his diocese. This is a plan that Kregory would go to great lengths to stop, should he learn of it---perhaps going so far as to ensure that the Pax Calixis would never reach Port Wander... Though he has remained outside the politics of the Sector Synod, Fortis is far from naive in Ministorum matters within the sector. In fact Fortis has his own share of powerful secrets, which if he chose, he could use to increase his standing and influence within the Synod. Principal among these is that he is one of the few members of the Ministorum that knows the truth behind the Margin Crusade---that it is a lie. While the majority of the church believes that High Confessor Corvinus’ crusade into the Halo Stars is an ongoing venture claiming new worlds and bringing in new wealth and followers, the truth is that it was lost decades ago. Of course, the resources, troops and other supplies which continue to pour into the church under the holy writ of the Segmentum Synod are still being used. Most find their way to another crusade, the existence of which is a well kept secret, while some are siphoned off by Fortis and others for their own church campaigns. Understandably if the truth about the Margin Crusade were to surface, the Ministorum would stand to lose these resources and possibly even the support of dozens of worlds who have sent off their sons to die in what they believed was an Emperor-ordained war of faith.